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According to a senior Politico interlocutor, the situation with the US sanctions against Nord Stream 2 remains “delicate” from a diplomatic point of view.
The administration of US President Joe Biden wants to introduce new sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 gas transmission project, but at the same time wants to strengthen relations with Germany. Politico reported this on March 12, citing sources.
According to the newspaper, new sanctions are already being drawn up. By law, the administration must submit a report to Congress every 90 days indicating the organizations involved in the construction of Nord Stream 2 that are subject to the sanctions. According to sources, the identification of these companies is now ongoing, the process can be completed before the next report is presented in May.
The sources did not disclose the details of this sanctions package.
At the same time, according to a senior interlocutor of the publication, the situation remains “delicate” from a diplomatic point of view: the United States wants to prevent the implementation of the Nord Stream 2 project, but at the same time wants to strengthen relations with Germany. The interlocutor pointed out that the administration “is between a rock and a hard place.”
A spokesman for the German Finance Ministry confirmed that the German government “is in contact with the US government about sanctions and threats of sanctions against Nord Stream 2,” but said the talks were confidential.
Sources in the publication said that sanctions could possibly be imposed on Russian ships and companies involved in the project.
Nord Stream 2 is a gas pipeline that is supposed to connect Russia with Germany along the bottom of the Baltic Sea. The length of the route is more than 1200 km, the capacity of the new gas pipeline will be 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year. The cost of the project is reported to be € 9.9 billion, it is financed by Russia’s Gazprom and five European companies: Anglo-Dutch Shell, German Wintershall and Uniper, French Engie and Austrian OMV.
Construction of the pipeline began in 2018. In December 2019, construction froze when the US imposed sanctions on European contractors involved in the project. At that time, 93% of the pipeline was completed, Nord Stream 2 AG reported.
A year later, on December 11, 2020, construction resumed. Until construction of two gas pipeline chains is completed, a total of 160 kilometers remain “with a little,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said on December 17. In February 2021, Gazprom announced that it intends to order Nord Stream 2 this year.
On February 23, 2021, it was learned that 18 European companies have abandoned the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project or are in the exit stage. The reason for this was possible new sanctions against the project by the United States.
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